Red Poppies
by TheDancingMelon
Summary: -Side story to White Lilies and Black Poppies- "You're insane." Allen said somewhat faintly, immediately regretting every life choice he'd ever made.


"And remember, it is of utter importance that you become acquainted with the Campbell boys, the Campbells are a wealthy family." An older man lectured with an air of importance, all the while staring down at a shorter child with shoulder long red hair.

Big purple eyes looked up at him with an air of innocence and understanding.

"I know. Uncle." The boy said softly before raising his hand in order to push back the slightly too big pair of glasses.

The older man huffed slightly even as he strictly tapped his metal covered cane against the carriage's floor.

"Yes, it is important to make connections with the heirs before they grow too old, make sure to do exactly as I've told you, Allen." The man said briskly as silver colored eyes clashed with purple ones.

Allen nodded while internally sighing. He didn't want to become friends or even familiar with two undoubtedly spoiled kids. He would know, he had been dragged along to many parties and almost every was the same. Spoiled kids with rich parents, kids surprised by a simple no.

While it wasn't unusual for his uncle to demand him to become "acquaints" with the kids on the different parties, he usually wasn't this demanding. Clearly these children came from an even richer family which didn't bode well. Rich kids were irritating, even richer kids compared to _rich_ kids were like the plague.

Allen grumbled silently, he'd rather stay at home in his library and read his books. Books are nice, never did they yell or shriek, never did they point and pull at his hair, deeming it a strange color.

Small fingers self-consciously tugged at tomato red bangs.

He didn't hate his hair color, he just found it unfortunate that it was strange enough to be pointed out by his peers.

"Straighten your back." His uncle hissed as he gripped ahold of Allen's shoulder, the grip wasn't bruising, not even tight but it was there and a constant reminder that he had to be on his best behavior.

Allen nodded quickly before straightening his back slightly, no need to agonize his uncle when he already was so stressed. Clearly this party was far more important than the others he'd been on.

"Driver!" His uncle shouted through the open window.

"Yes sir!" The call from the coachman sounded back, slightly louder and with a thick accent that always managed to grate on his uncle's nerves.

"Quicken this thing!" The older man snarled, "At this rate it'll take the entire day to arrive!"

"Apologizes sir!" The younger male shouted back as Allen felt how the carriage quickened its pace. The neighs from the horses in the front could be heard even clearer as the sound of their hooves smattering against the gravel path.

They hadn't been in the carriage for long but clearly his uncle was about to lose his temper. This night would be a long one, especially since the guests were invited to spend the night and a large part of the next day.

It was a dinner party at the highly complimented Campbell estate that they were invited to, the estate with its beautiful gardens and highly impressive decorations that even the pickiest of ladies couldn't help but admire.

Katerina D. Campbell, the head of the house was the one responsible for their invitation. Allen honestly didn't know why the rumored lady would care to invite one of the lower nobles to one of her dinner parties that always were highly spoken of. His uncle didn't have any contacts that she'd need, nor was he particularly wealthy, at least not in comparison with her.

It had taken awhile before he finally understood why their family was invited.

They had him.

He wasn't particularly good looking, nor was he particularly smart other than the fact that he _liked_ to read books.

But his age was according to the many rumors pretty close to the twin boys that were living in the mansion.

They were both eleven, a mere year away from his own age. Being invited merely based on his age and good grades provided by his homeschool education was a reason to why most nobles found his family good enough to be invited. Their low blood status was something frowned upon but easily forgotten as long as he kept his grades at the same level as their heirs.

But alas, just because their grades was at the same level didn't mean that Allen and the other noble heirs had anything else in common. Allen wasn't particularly tall, nor was he that assured of his own superiority.

He was raised as a gentleman, never thinking that anyone was below him.

The other heirs on the other hand, both the girls and boys, had from a young age been raised with a silver spoon in the mouth. They learned that they got whatever they wanted as long as they behaved appropriate in social situations. They learned that people without money and big estates were nothing but dirt beneath their sole.

This was one of many reasons to why Allen despised most heirs, sure some of them were alright but even then he had nothing to bond over with the few that were completely okay.

"Sir, we're there in a matter of seconds!" The coachman yelled from his seat in the front, alerting Allen's uncle who sat deeply in thought, all the while looking out through the carriage's window.

Allen blinked slightly as he once again nervously tugged on his red bangs before letting his eyes trail down to his shorts.

His clothes were nothing special but they were of a high quality. A pair of long white over-knee socks and brown shorts as well as a white shirt and a low bow was what he wore for the evening.

Normal clothes, they neither stood out and could easily be deemed acceptable clothes both with the nobles and the common folks.

The carriage shuddered slightly before it stopped altogether.

Allen inhaled softly before quickly following his Uncle's graceful exit through the carriage door.

Purple eyes widened slightly as they took in the sight of Campbell Manor, the architecture was truly one of a kind and Allen couldn't help but compare the creamy color and outer design with drawn sketches from one of his different books regarding the topic.

He could easily spot some similarities between the manor and some other styles, yet it kept it uniqueness. It was easy to say that Allen was bewitched by it's beauty. Sure it was a bit massive for his taste but he wasn't blind enough not to see the amazement that must have struck the other guests.

"Lord Walker." A musical voice said as a woman clothed in the typical victorian style exited through the main doors.

She was beautiful with long dark hair flowing down her back, only her bangs sat up in a high bun. Purple eyes not completely unlike his own meet his briefly before they zoned back to his uncle.

"Lady Campbell." His uncle greeted as he bowed slightly in a respectful manner.

Katerina smiled slightly even as she too curtsied slightly.

"And this must be Allen." She continued as she once again looked at Allen. He smiled slightly and nodded before bowing.

"Lady Campbell." He greeted even as she giggled slightly and gave him a blinding smile.

"Oh no dear, call me Katerina." She ordered with mock seriousness.

Allen hesitated, calling her Katerina would be highly impolite considering that she was both older and wiser than him, but refusing was almost even ruder.

"Lady Katerina." He said instead, placating both options. She smiled her acceptance before returning her attention to his uncle.

"Shall we?" She asked while motioning towards the open doors where a row of maids and butlers were awaiting them.

Allen stiffened slightly, preparing for an emotionally exhausting party with loads of boredom and death wishes.

But he wasn't inept so he refrained from showing even the slightest hint of dislike.

He followed his uncle closely as he and Katerina made their way towards the staircase, his uncle distractedly handing over his cape and hat to one of the closest maids who merely accepted the clothes without protest.

"Am I correct if I assume that there are other children in my nephews age around?" His uncle said, obviously fishing for information regarding the twin heirs. Allen briefly closed his eyes in doom but quickly opened them, hiding the painful expression with a smile.

"Ah," Katerina said, nodding her head before smiling slightly in fondness, "Yes, my sons, Neah and Mana as well as some other guest's children." She said softly.

"I take it that Neah is the oldest then?" Allen frowned, his uncle was being a bit to obvious now.

"No, Mana is the oldest but only with a matter of minutes." She was kind, any other lady would use the slip up in order to turn the conversation around.

"I see." His uncle said with the air of a tired man, "Well I was just asking for Allen's sake, he's awfully shy that one." It was moments like this that Allen disliked his uncle, what right did the man have to make such blatant lies regarding his person? And what right did he have to use his existence as a tool in order to gain power. Oh well, it wasn't like he wasn't used to it by now.

Allen smiled stonily as Katerina turned towards him.

"Oh, well I don't think that it'll be a problem… Neah and Mana can be very… _persuasive_." Allen felt how his eyebrow twitched slightly. Well if that wasn't ominous he didn't know what was.

Nonetheless, if he behaved good enough during the entire evening and morning then he might actually get that one book that had grabbed his attention in the store. His uncle, although slightly oblivious at best, was not a stupid man. He knew that Allen didn't enjoy the parties, nor that he was particularly keen on starting anything resembling friendship with the other heirs. But Allen was if anything bribable, so it wasn't impossible to get the stubborn ten year old to at least _try_.

And try he would. At least in order to get the newly _updated_ Atlas.

"Lady Katerina, Lord Walker." A new voice cut in as a slightly overweight man in his late 40s strutted over towards the pair of adults and the single child.

"I must say, you look absolutely stunning this evening-" And Allen tuned the rest out, not in the least interested in the no doubt storm of flattery that would soon follow.

"And this must be young Alan!" The irritating loud man blustered as he finally laid eyes on Allen's smaller form.

"Allen." he corrected, something that went completely ignored.

"He's a rather small boy, isn't he? I bet my own sons would love to be introduced to this young one, they're 12 and 10 respectively" The man continued to babble on, completely ignorant to the forced smiles that both Katerina and his uncle currently wore. Manners or no manners, even they could hardly suppress a flinch at the other man's behavior.

"Well, I'm certain that Allen wouldn't mind." His uncle said, ever the charmer as he sent Allen one stern look.

"Isn't that right? I remember how you complained about how rarely you got the chance to make friends." Well, that was bullshit but Allen couldn't help but admire how legit his uncle made it sound.

"Perfect!" The man said with a bright smile as he casually waved over a pair of bulky boys, both at least a head taller than Allen.

"These are my boys," He said while pointing at the taller boy with sand colored hair. "This is Lucas, my heir and first born," he said, practically shining with pride before continued while pointing at the shorter boy with chestnut colored hair, "and this is Henry, my youngest.".

"Pleasure." Allen said while softly raising his hand, a hand that the oldest brother shook with a tight grip. Allen internally sighed, taller boys that barely could control their strength was nothing unusual, just _very_ irritating.

"Pleasure to meet you." The oldest returned. Blue eyes sparkling slightly. Allen was for once unsure whether it was in mockery or interest, something which was slightly unusual since he was quite good at spotting such things.

"Pleasure." The younger said, eagerly repeating Allen's greeting. This one was easier to read than the older, not that Allen actually had to. Youngest child to a father that obviously had favorites judging by his introduction. Had the youngest been born a girl this would surely not be a problem, however thanks to his gender he would probably forever be in the oldest shadow.

"Why won't you three go and join the other children, hmm?" The man continued, oblivious to Katerina's rather pinched look and the angry expression his uncle wore. Because child or not, no one outside the Walker family ordered another Walker.

"Okay." Allen spoke up, just as he saw his uncle opening his mouth to retort. He didn't like being ordered but allowing his uncle to speak up in defense would lead to bigger problems. Their family wasn't wealthy when compared to other nobles, nor did they have any sought after traits that was exotic in their family. It would be catastrophic should their family name end up in anything resembling a family feud.

His uncle knew this obviously but was for some reason willing to offer some of their closely kept reputation if only to protect the Walker honor. And while it may be considered slightly cold by the more child friendly families it was actually quite flattering in their family. A child was rarely seen as anything other than a mean to protect the family's future, yet the Walkers viewed the children as _the_ future. Which was the reason to his uncle was so very demanding when it came to his future friends when most families just saw it as a possibility to train their children's socials skills for future.

His uncle gave him a rather soft look before strictly nodding once, it was the only acceptance that Allen should heed.

The younger brother - _Henry_ Allen reminded himself- casually grabbed ahold of his arm and started to drag him away. Allen's eyes widened significantly at the lack of manners as his uncle frowned disapprovingly. Physical contact was not frowned upon between friends but considering the fact that this was the first time Allen had ever meet the boy the action was considered rude and not nice at all.

"Come on then Allen," using his first name? "the children are over here!" The bo- _Henry_ said as he began to lead the way to a faraway corner. Allen barely realized that Lucas was following behind him, he was completely shocked by the distinct lack of manners that the boys had, or rather the lack of manners that the younger brother showed. Not that the older brother and the father appeared much better considering how neither scolded the younger.

He eyed the grip around his left wrist. He had never really enjoyed physical contact of any kind, be it in the form of a hug or just holding hands, he _never_ liked it or even found it bearable. Yet he steeled himself and tried to shut out the feeling of the sweaty palm warming the pale skin.

"Hi Lucas!" A girl at the same height as Allen greeted as she laid eyes on the older brother, golden curls bouncing in excitement, watery blue eyes shining with delight.

"Hi Charlotte!" Henry exclaimed instead, a light blush decorating the slightly tan cheeks. Allen frowned as reality sunk in. Dread filled his gut as he saw the older brother carelessly dismissing the blonde girl in favor of another slightly taller girl with ginger hair, just a shade lighter than Allen's own.

Ah. How unfortunate, the last thing he had wanted to do this evening other than actually going to the party was having to suffer through a love triangle drama. His aunt on the other hand would've loved this.

Watery blue eyes darkened as the girl saw the ginger haired girl causing Henry to redden in anger at the obvious dismissal. Henry stood still, sulking before a thought visible struck him.

"Hey! Charlotte, meet our new friend!" He said unnecessarily loud, causing the girl to look up, irritation flashing in her eyes before a fake polite smile plastered itself over her pouty lips.

"Oh. Hi Henry." Her eyes caught his before quickly flickering towards his hair and a glimmer of interest appeared as the eyes turned calculating. Allen heaved another internal sigh, he really didn't want to be a part of this.

"Who is this?" The girl said with a demanding tone as she walked closer, the grin on Henry's face couldn't get bigger as he harshly slapped Allen's back.

"This is Alan-" " _Allen_." "Dad introduced him to us." Henry continued, completely undisturbed by Allen's interruption.

"His hair is ridiculous." The girl deadpanned causing the broad smile on Henry's face to completely disappear.

"Y-yeah. I know, really ugly isn't it!" Henry continued as he released the grip around Allen's wrist before quickly grabbing ahold of the red bangs that framed his pale face.

The grip hurt but only a grimace of pain allowed itself to be known as Allen gritted his teeth. He would go through this without murdering someone, he had done it before.

The grip was suddenly gone causing Allen to blink slightly in surprise before he quickly looked up. Purple eyes clashed with yellow eyes. Hadn't he been wiser he'd think that his heart just skipped a beat.

A boy.

A boy that currently held Henry's wrist in one tight grip above his head. Allen's eyes widened slightly as he took in situation. The skin around Henry's wrist had gone pale at the force, blood circulation no doubt cut off thanks to the boy that currently was watching him as if he was a very interesting object.

He was very strange Allen thought somewhat distractedly. Shoulder long hair flowed undisturbed down the boy's neck, dark bangs framing a smiling face. Allen wasn't dumb, he knew what a mask was when he saw it and whatever disturbing expression the boy currently wore was a perfect example of an ideal mask.

"Oi!" The older brother exclaimed as he stomped over, anger causing his face to redden slightly. Well, that couldn't be healthy for his blood pressure. "Who the fuck are you!?" Crude. Allen thought as he noticed the expression of distaste on the other children's faces. Swearing was very disrespectful, especially during such a convention.

The boy didn't even as much as grace the approaching male who was both broader and taller than him as much as a grain of his attention. He was seemingly completely absorbed by the sight of Allen, something that was rather worryingly yet he couldn't feel even a shimmer of fear.

"I said-!" Lucas growled as he stalked closer.

The boy didn't say anything as he simply released his hold on Henry, causing the boy to sink down to the floor, face pale in pain and fear. The girl quickly sunk down next to Henry, blue eyes wide in fear as she attempted to drag the barely responding body closer.

"Mana." A new voice interrupted just as Lucas opened his mouth in order to say something.

Allen blinked slightly in surprise as he caught sight of Katerina quickly walking over towards the children's corner. Her forehead wrinkled slightly as she frowned disapprovingly. What surprised Allen was that she was seemingly more disappointed in Henry than anyone else, strange considering how she just now interrupted and could only have seen Lucas and the boy's behavior.

He blinked. Wait had she said-

"Mother." The boy greater as he turned slightly towards Katerina even though his eyes never trailed from Allen's own.

"Where's Neah?" Katerina asked as she stopped, tilting her head to the side slightly in question.

"He's in the other corner, entertaining lord and lady Eastwood." The boy said as he took a step closer towards Allen. Allen shivered slightly as he prepared to take a step back should the boy- Mana attempt to take another step closer.

"Mana." Katerina said warningly causing him to stop and fully turn towards his mother, eyes only darting briefly towards him before once again settling fully on Katerina. Allen used the moment to take several steps backwards, not enough for it to be obvious but enough to put a slight distance between them.

Katerina and Mana shared eye contact for awhile, neither of them saying anything while the children present shifted slightly.

The lady of the house smiled slightly as she leaned forward and ruffled Mana's hair. She then crouched down next to Henry and the girl, gently offering them a hand each. There was a slight pause of hesitation, but eventually both children accepted the offer and quickly rose from the ground in tune with Katerina.

"I will be on the other side of the room, should any of you need me." She informed softly with a strict note, the children eagerly absorbing the words. "Don't be afraid to ask if you need anything." And then she was gone, retreating back towards the other adults who all seemed blessedly unaware of the disturbance that the brother's had offered.

Allen looked back towards the boy and noticed with a hint of distress that Mana was once again looking at him. It was quite disturbing but since he had saved him, in a way, he simply brushed it off. Who was he to fault others for their weirdness, he was after all probably the weirdest present.

"Thank you." He said softly, gratitude .

Mana merely stared at him in bewilderment, frowning softly.

"Um." Wow. Real smooth Walker, why not stutter while you're at it?

"You're welcome." The boy said after a while and Allen had the itching feeling that he was being judged.

"Mana." A voice interrupted, almost identical to Mana's voice. Mana turned slightly, smiling broadly in a way that the mask couldn't copy as he caught sight of someone dear to him. Allen was slightly curious who this person was but wasn't surprised when he saw another boy who was _very_ similar to Mana. Same height, identically shaped eyes with a matching golden color. Everything was on point even the clothes save one detail.

The hair.

While Mana had smoothly flowing hair rippling down his neck like water his look alike had spiky hair that seemingly had it's own will.

Hadn't Allen already known that Mana had a twin he'd assume so now either way, if only thanks to the faces. Twins were rare and monozygotic twins even more so. It was interesting in a way he supposed, to see such a pair of twins even though they did have slight differences in their appearances, differences that were mostly restricted to the hair but still.

"Neah." Mana said smiling as he tilted his head to the side, as if beckoning the other boy closer, it seemed useless though since Neah never stopped approaching them.

Golden eyes once again landed on him, the only difference being the intention. The gazes were both equally heavy yet Neah's gaze had an open sort of curiosity to it while Mana's seemed more hostile, be it by nature or based on something Allen had done.

"Hi." He said waving half heartedly as Neah merely tilted his head, a motion that seemed to pass through the family. Maybe they had some kind of genetical similarities with birds, the head tilt was bird like enough for it to be possible.

…

Or not but Allen wasn't one to out rule a possibility. It would be interesting to ponder at for the moment at least. If only to distract himself from all the social activities he had to partake in.

"You have red hair." Neah declared. Shamelessly watching how Allen's red locks shifted slightly as he turned his head in order to meet Neah's gaze.

"And? So does that girl over there." Allen defensively said while gesturing towards the ginger haired colored girl who uneasily conversed with the brothers. The blonde girl standing just besides the younger brother, all of them casting them looks yet still keeping their distance.

"Yours prettier." Neah said. Once again as if it was obvious.

Allen blinked.

"Uh, thanks?"

Neah didn't say anything else after that. He merely looked at him with the same searching gaze his brother used, it was all starting to unsettle Allen, more than usually on parties.

"Well… This was, _great_. I'm just going to go find my uncle now, if you don't mind." He babbled as he delicately attempted to retreat towards the corner where he last saw his uncle.

"It's soon dinner. The children will eat at a different table, I wouldn't advise you to find your uncle until after dessert at least." Mana spoke up. Curiously taking a step closer.

"Oh." Allen merely said because really, what else could he say?

"I like you bow." Mana continued, looking at the simple black bow that hung around his neck, as if it was something pretty.

"Thank you?" This constant flattering was tiring.

"Yep!" Mana cheerfully chattered, much to Allen's astonishment. "It simple, not forced, not something maids have mixed with for hours… very different from the the other people here." Well. It was true but he wasn't sure if it was a very badly veiled insult or a equally badly veiled compliment.

"Well. I like your eyes." Allen said instead, what else could he do? The conversation was unsettling but he couldn't just walk away as he had earlier intended. So Allen did what he usually did during stressful situations, hyper analyze everything and shoot comments in hope of somehow finding a way to squirm himself out from said conversation.

This time however, this plan seemed to backfire.

Usually, when a boy was being complimented for his eyes, he'd either be caught of guard or simply unsettled. Allen didn't know if it was a compliment reserved for females only but he used it nonetheless. It had always worked. Except this time, apparently.

Mana's eyes lit up and a big smile made it's way past the mask. It was… kinda blinding in a way.

"I like yours too!" Mana chirped unbothered by Allen's slightly forced smile. "Neah has the same eyes as I." he continued, grabbing ahold of Neah's arm and dragging him closer until Allen could see.

"Mana." Neah sighed but otherwise didn't resist.

"Yeah." Allen agreed, "I saw that."

Mana smiled even as the dinner bell sounded through the ball room.

Allen turned towards the centre of the room, trying his best to ignore how the twins somehow entered his personal space, barely shy of touching his shoulder.

"Ladies and gentlemen." Katerina said, effectively cutting off any whispering conversation. "It is, my greatest pleasure to serve you all today's dinner. If you all would just follow the maids to the dining room then I'm sure that we all shall share a pleasurable meal." She continued, almost glowing with some kind of unworldly aura.

A gently tap to his shoulder caused him to turn around and look at Neah's slightly narrowed eyes.

"The dining room is this way." He said while grabbing ahold of Mana's arm and slowly beginning to retreat towards the door that he had quickly waved at. Allen hesitated for awhile, searching the group of people for his uncle but was unsurprised that he couldn't find the familiar build in the mass.

"You're coming or what?" Neah's voice grumpily cut in, the twins having stopped before the simple door, both of them turned towards Allen while looking at him expectantly.

"Aren't… We supposed to go that way?" Allen questioned warily as he nodded towards the other people who made their way through the double doors, chatting happily with each other.

Neah looked towards the group with barely veiled disgust while Mana simply shook his head.

"Mother said that we didn't have to." He said as if it was obvious.

"Well. I bet she didn't say that you could bring anyone with you either." Allen tried. He didn't _want_ to become friends with the twins. He may love his uncle, but he had no interest in following the man's word more than necessary.

The silence was telling.

Allen almost wanted to release a sigh of relief. He didn't have anything against the twins but that didn't mean that he didn't want to keep a distance either. Really, the room was full of children in all possible sizes. His hair, while different with it's darker color wasn't the only reddish around either, so the twins had plenty to pick among instead. He had no interest to become a plaything for the rich.

"She wouldn't mind." Mana said after a while when the room had almost emptied on people.

"That may be, but _I_ would certainly mind." Allen said, not beating around the bush with his intention any longer. Judging by the younger twin's expression, his intention had been know from the start either way, so why even try.

Mana frowned unhappily but nodded one short time.

"It's not like this will be the last thing you see from us." Neah suddenly spoke up, causing Allen to blink in surprise. Was… that a threat?

And with that the twins turned on their heels and disappeared through the door, leaving Allen and a few guests behind in the room.

* * *

Allen didn't really believe in god.

Nor did he believe in the devil.

Now though, he kinda wished that he did. If only to be able to blame either of them for this.

He had hoped, he had _thought_ that it would be the last time he interacted with the twins. Fate or just the placing around the table in general disagreed. He wasn't sure how he did it but he had somehow been placed _between_ the twins.

He wondered if someone was out to get him.

"More potatoes, Allen?" Mana questioned innocently enough, more than proud that he had under the first 10 minutes of the dinner managed to get permission to use Allen's first name. Something that was mostly reserved for the few people the redhead allowed close.

"No thank you." Allen responded politely while internally groaning. This would last for the entire evening and a good bit of the morning.

Neah who was sitting on Allen's left was content with chewing on his own piece of meat. It was quite strange for him to be _placed_ between the two. Family members were usually placed besides each other, so why he, who had only known the twins for maybe half an hour, was placed _between_ the pair of twins was truly strange. And uncomfortable.

The wealthy heirs were glaring daggers at him, no doubt confused and disappointed why he with his low standing in the food chain was placed at such a important place.

To be honest. Allen wondered that as well.

It wasn't like he wanted to sit here, he didn't even want to attend the party in the first place!

Someone was really out to get him.

The girl in front of him suddenly put down her glass of water a bit hard in the table, causing Allen to look up in disinterest. While it was usual for the host or hostess to sit at the end of the table, the children's rules were different. No one sat at the ends, if only to make sure that the children didn't start feuds over something silly as sitting at the end of the table.

However, as it was now, Allen secretly wished that it was a rule that the heirs were to sit at the end of the table, it would make it less obvious that he was beside one of the twins if that was the case.

"So, Allen was it?" The girl suddenly spoke up with a sugar sweet tone.

Allen quirked an eyebrow but cautiously nodded.

"How long have you known the Campbell twins?" She asked coyly, fluttering her eyelids in Mana's direction.

It was moments like this that Allen, quite forcefully, reminded himself that they all were under the age of 15 and that this girl couldn't be older than him himself. The fact that she was already fishing for information at this age while attempting to flaunt parts that _she had yet to gain_ , was if anything disturbing.

"Er…" He began intelligently as he glanced fleetingly towards Mana who had been the most verbal twin yet. He stalled slightly as he saw the older male merely stare at the other girl unemotionally, not even the barest hint of consideration evident in the lifeless yellow eyes.

Spooked by the sudden change Allen turned towards the girl who obviously was waiting for an answer. She had seemingly made it a point to ignore the twins and instead stared at him.

"I don't." He said as bluntly as he could as her eyes widened marginally.

"Really?" She questioned, not a small amount of disbelief evident in her tone as she haughtily sipped on her cup of juice.

"I don't like your eyes." The silence grew as Allen immediately turned his wide eyes towards Mana, because who else could have said it? Neah and Mana had similar voices, something that the children among the table had pointed out the moment they all sat down and introduced themselves, they did however not have _identical_ voices.

Not that the differences matter in this moment since it was easy for Allen to tell who was speaking judging by which side of his chair it came from, left meant Neah and right was Mana.

The girl turned wide eyes towards Mana who shamelessly looked down on her, eyes cold and somewhat irritated.

"Excuse me?"

"Apology accepted." Mana said before turning towards Neah, frowning slightly at the vegetables pointedly left on the plate in front of the younger twin.

"Neah." He chided slightly as the girl in front of him merely gaped at being dismissed so casually. The table was almost quiet, the children uneasily glancing at each other while carefully eyeing the twins with somewhat fearful looks.

"You can't just say that to me!" The girl said angrily, tears shining in her eyes.

Allen shifted awkwardly. He didn't really like to make others cry and the girl wasn't really at fault. He sighed. Why couldn't his uncle just let him sit this one out, it would spare him so many headaches. Well too late for that now.

"Hey, would you like some cherries?" He asked softly as he held forward a bowl of red cherries. He had been enjoying the sweet treat that surprisingly was present during the dinner and not during the desert which had yet to come, but hey, he didn't complain, especially not if it saved him from the terror of crying children.

She blew up her cheeks and for once tiny second he feared that she'd start to wail. Luckily though, that didn't happen and she sourly accepted the berries while glowering at him as if it all was his fault.

He was fine with it, really what was an ever present glare compared to the unavoidable wails that could have followed. Unfortunately, Mana did not share his opinion on the matter judging by the icy glares thrown in the girls way. She ducked, shrinking into herself as if it would save her from the glares.

Allen turned scolding eyes towards Mana who simply looked at him in betrayal.

They weren't even friends! Mana had no reason to be offended for his sake!

They stared at each other for awhile, Mana simply staring at him with large puppy like eyes while Allen had the sharp gaze of a bird.

Eventually, Mana huffed as he stared down at his plate, sulking.

Allen felt his eyebrow twitch slightly. He told himself, _sternly_ that this was not his fault, that this social _trap_ he had fallen into, headfirst, was all because of bad timing.

"I want the cherries." Neah suddenly said, and Allen felt what little patience for the evening that he had slowly seep away into the empty nothingness.

Smiling politely, Allen turned towards the poor girl that was seated across from him, luckily though she seemed to have two female friends at her side, meaning that she wasn't completely isolated.

"Excuse me." He said softly when it became clear that Neah had no intention of asking for the cherries yet judging by the way he looked at them had every intention to _take_ them. The girl turned her gaze towards him while her friend on her right hesitated before she too fell silent.

"Yes?" She said icily.

"Could you pass the cherries?"

She glowered at him. "Weren't you done with them?"

He grimaced, he hadn't been done, but he still passed them over with the _intention_ to be done with them. It was just his luck that Neah for some reason wanted the damn fruit.

He ignored the small voice that smartly wondered why he played the roll of the twins translator. Another small voice justified his actions by reminding the first voice of his promise to his uncle. He told both voices to shut up, which they luckily did. After all, he wasn't crazy so the voices weren't permanent.

"Obviously not." He said while internally bemoaning the entire situation.

The girl frowned angrily and turned away from him, ignoring his request.

Her friend looked somewhat scandalized and gave her friend a very judging look, something that the girl was either oblivious to or ignored as well.

"Rude." Neah spoke up, causing the entire table to freeze. Allen winced.

The girl paled as she turned towards Neah with wide eyes.

"What?"

"I said, rude." Neah clarified eyeing her as if she was a speckle of dirt on his shoe.

"How is it rude?" She said angrily, her face flushing slightly in mortification.

"He asked for the cherries yet you refuse to pass them."

"W-well, he was done with them!" Her voice turned shrieking.

"If you had anything resembling a brain then you'd know that he only offered the cherries because you were about to cry."

"I wasn't about to cry!" She hissed. Neah scoffed as he merely tilted his head, yellow eyes sharply eyeing her.

"Do you really believe that? Pathetic."

Allen inhaled sharply as tears started to roll down the girl's cheeks. She puffed up her cheeks as she resolutely looked down before demonstratively leaving the table entirely. Allen really hoped that she didn't run to the adults, it just wasn't worth the headache.

"Why did you do that?" He asked tiredly as he turned towards Neah who held the bowl of cherries as a hard won price.

Neah didn't answer, he merely offered the cherries with a slightly wondering look.

"Cherries?"

* * *

He was done.

Screw his uncle, screw this party, screw the twins. He was _done_.

Allen Walker was _done_ with this bull crap and he was _never_ returning to anything that even _resembled_ a party!

His uncle, unfortunately, would not share his opinion.

Allen was practically fuming in anger as he moved around in the ballroom, trying his best to avoid the twins who seemingly appeared randomly everywhere.

Yet, between the two terrors it was Mana who was the worst.

The oldest twin was like a koala mashed together with a lonely puppy while the youngest was more like a cat, choosing to stalk his victim from a distance and watch it's every move.

A killer combination.

Mana was exhausting and tiring while Neah just disturbed and unsettled the victim.

The victim was doomed from the very start.

It wouldn't be too bad, had the victim been anyone other than Allen that is, but since when had the world ever agreed to let the angry red head have his way? Never that is.

So it was with the air of a dying man that Allen tried his best to avoid the twins. He had tried everything, from pulling stunts that allowed him to cross the entire room to talking charmingly with an older lady.

Somehow, however, one or in some cases both of the twins cut into his plan, either by sneaking up next to him and joining a conversation or simply accidentally bump into him and quickly steer him into another direction.

They were attempting to corner him, but the worst was that it was _working_.

"Screw this." Allen hissed furiously under his breath, trying to keep a neutral face as he quite desperately tried to spot an escape route.

"Hello Allen, can I help you?" There was a god.

"Hello, lady Katerina." He greeted happily, Katerina had, albeit fleetingly, stopped Mana once before and he was desperate enough to hope that she'd do it again.

"You looked stressed." She said with concern as she smiled down at him, eyes sparkling slightly with humor or fondness.

"Well, I haven't been able to find my uncle, you haven't seen him have you?" he questioned eagerly.

Logically, he knew that the chance that Katerina did know where his uncle where was small, after all, she was the hostess of this party and very popular. The fact that his uncle got to talk to her alone for even a second was very hard to accomplish and with all certainty just a stroke of luck. Something which had seemingly decided to hunt him for the rest of the evening.

"Ah, yes, Lord Walker. I'm sorry to say that your uncle started to feel stomach aches after dinner." The hostess informed solemnly, lowering herself so that she was in same eye level as Allen.

"Oh." He simply said, distressed by the news. His uncle had always been rather healthy for his age, the worst that could happen to that man was a cold, something that Allen envied.

Katerina frowned, tilting her head to the side in worry.

"Is that a family thing or something?" Allen asked abruptly, flushing in mortification as the question registered. Oh dear lord, strike him down where he stood right now.

"What is?" She questioned curiously, blinking her dark eyes at him. Well too late to change the question now, it wasn't like he'd ever meet her again either way.

"That thing you do with your head, Neah and Mana does that too." he clarified and watched how a bright smile lightened the young lady's face.

"Oh? Have you gotten this close already?" She questioned curiously, joy evident in her expression.

Allen narrowed his eyes in suspicion. She didn't seem surprised that her supposedly 'antisocial' sons had taken to a complete stranger, a rather _unwilling_ stranger at that. Hell, she didn't even _sound_ surprised, just very expecting.

"You planned this."

Katerina smiled, it was like she knew all along that Allen would figure it out and was expecting no less.

"But how did you…?" He questioned, puzzled. There was no way that she _could've_ planned it. Mana and Neah was obviously not in the loop considering how puzzled they were by his mere existence.

"I could feel it." She said softly from her kneeling position at the floor. It was strange how no one had commented on how degrading it was of her to crouch like that. In fact, it was strange how no one seemed to see them at all.

"Feel?" He questioned, his heart furiously pumping around the blood in his veins together with the adrenaline. This entire situation was bizarre yet he felt at ease together with the obviously mental woman. It was as if she was nothing but a distant relative, easy to get along with but none the less shrouded in mystery.

"You can too, or are you refusing the connection?" She answered cryptically much to Allen's bafflement.

"Connection? What are you talking about?"

Katerina merely smiled, gently ruffling his hair before she rose from her floor. Standing proudly, not even the slightest hem or strand of hair wrong on her spotless appearance.

"Soon." She promised before she casually looked up, eyes sparkling. "Don't avoid the twins." She advised. "I know that their approach could be better but don't fault them for it."

"With whom does the fault lay in then?" He questioned icily, stiffening as he felt burning gazes prickle the back of his neck.

She smiled mystically, a knowing look in her eyes.

"We'll meet again, Allen."

"Wait-"

Katerina ignored his cry and merely continued on. Easily becoming a part of the mass.

Allen stood still, ignoring the curious glances his still form attracted. Who cared anyway, if it was up to him then he'd never return either way.

"You were speaking to mother."

He sighed before turning towards the younger twin, a long suffering expression evident on his facial features.

"Well hello to you too, Neah. Yes, I believe that was indeed your mother, how observant of you." He mocked.

"No need to be rude _dearest_ Allen." Neah merely threw back causing Allen to scowl.

"Why, I think I preferred 'redhead' actually."

"What makes you think that you have a say?"

"What makes _you_ think that I'll stick around long enough for you to figure out?" Allen growled irritatedly as he attempted to stalk off, away from the terror that had taken to agonize him with glee.

Something suddenly snuck around his wrist, successfully halting his retreat. He froze.

"Don't go." It wasn't a request. Allen saw red for one second, no one touched him without his _permission_.

He twirled around, facing Neah with the fury of harpy. Neah, despite being at least half a head taller looked properly intimidated by the change of aura.

"I don't care _who_ you are, if you don't release me this moment I'll make sure to curse you to the lowest level of hell!" He snarled as he forcefully yanked his arm free.

Neah eyed him warily.

"Sorry."

"Fuck you." Well, to be fair, he had _tried_.

Neah twitched slightly at the swear but continued to watch him expectantly.

He heaved a heavy sigh.

"What is it that you want?" he finally questioned, Neah merely tilted his head to the side. "You've been following me the entire evening, _what do you want_?"

"You." Had he not been prepared for something similar Allen might've shrieked out loudly. Mana had somehow snuck up behind him, silently wrapping his arms around his neck unnoticed until it was too late.

"What?" He snarled, attempting to shake of the twin hanging on him without causing to much of a scene.

"We want you." Mana chirped, repeating himself as he smiled brightly.

"Well, you can't bloody have me! I belong to no one!" He snarled protectively, feeling more disturbed by every second that went by.

"We didn't ask." Neah said, standing far to close for Allen's comfort.

The chase was over.

"Boys." Katerina suddenly said, appearing out of nowhere like a guardian angel. Allen was almost prepared to fall onto the floor then and there, swearing eternal loyalty to her for her convenient timing.

Mana and Neah's attention snapped to their mother quickly, but neither backed down.

Katerina frowned disapprovingly, placing her hands on her hips as she sternly looked down at them.

Mana squeezed around Allen before reluctantly letting go. Stepping around Allen until he joined his twin, their hands naturally seeking out the other's. Allen carefully eyed them before looking up at Katerina with a new won respect.

"You shouldn't intimidate our guest like that." She chided causing Mana to pout and Neah to angrily look to the side.

"But mother," Mana whined, "he's _ours_."

Allen shuddered slightly at being objectified like that while Katerina merely looked at Mana with something akin to resignation. Wait, resignation wasn't good. Alarm sunk it's claws into Allen as he watched with dread as Katerina heaved a sigh.

"He's not yours." _Well thank God_. "At least not yet." Wait.

"What?" He said loudly as Neah looked up with surprise.

Katerina smiled softly.

"Boys, why don't you show your friend-" Allen squawked "your room?"

"What? No-"

"Okay!" Mana agreed eagerly, grabbing ahold of Allen's right arm while Neah grabbed the left.

Still struck by the blatant betrayal Allen could only helplessly watch how he was dragged away from the ballroom where the other guests were and through a single small door.

"Stop!" He cried as he forcefully tried to shake off the twins. The didn't let go but they did stop, overall a win.

Allen glared at them, hoping that he looked intimidating enough for them to let go. They merely just stared at him before continuing to drag him along.

"I said _stop_!" Allen screeched again, and they both stopped. Neah looking a bit annoyed while Mana just looked confused.

"Why?" Mana questioned softly as he tilted his head to the side, adopting a kicked puppy look.

"I- I do _not_ consent to this!" Allen huffed as he, in vain, tried to make the hands wrapped around his wrists let go.

"Don't go." Mana whispered as he walked closer. Standing far too close for Allen's liking.

"We don't want you to go." He continued, undisturbed by the close distance.

Allen merely watched the twin in front of him with a blank expression. Something tugged in his heart.

He sighed tiredly, dragging a hand through his red looks.

"What could you possible win from getting 'close' to me?" He questioned kindly. Neah narrowed his eyes.

"Everything." Mana said breathlessly, eyes wide and so very _shiny_ with curiosity.

" _Nothing._ " Allen gently corrected before easily shaking of the slack grips around his wrists.

"You have quite the low view on your self worth, huh." Neah drawled as he smirked. An expression that looked far to grown up of his youthful face.

Allen felt how his eyebrow twitched.

"It's not that I have low self-esteem. I just don't want to be bothered."

"Then stay." Neah deadpanned. "It's not like things will get easier away from us." Allen shook his head in disagreement.

"I have a feeling that being _near_ you will equal to some unearthly experiences, and I am, plainly put, not up for that."

Neah heaved a sigh, like _he_ was the one being ridiculous.

"You're wrong."

Huh?

"Your existence is _wrong_." Neah repeated.

It did not magically make sense the second round either.

"Humans aren't interesting, they're stupid, ignorant, naive and overall rude."

"Well, aren't we positive." Allen snarked. Annoyed that he was essentially being called stupid.

"Except you." Mana said joyfully. "I don't like humans, I _really_ don't. But you're intriguing. We _want_ that."

"You're speaking as if you weren't human." Allen said warily, more than a little alarmed by the sheer sociopathic signs.

 _Lack of empathy_ to humanity in general.

Possible _narcism_ considering how close the twins were to each other, constantly moving based on the other's position.

 _Charming_ , he had _seen_ how they interacted _,_ thank you very much.

Mana might be somewhat fuzzy and overall nice but Neah was definitely less welcoming. _Cold and calculating._

He had, essentially managed to lock himself into a empty corridor with two possible sociopaths. Brilliant.

Chills went down his spine as he tensed at the reveal. He had yet to see Mana and Neah get violent but there had been that moment in the beginning where Mana had easily sized the fist that had a handful of his hair.

Mana, obvious to his new label, tilted his head curiously as if he was curious what Allen was going to do now.

Oh God.

He wasn't hyperventilating, yet. But he was _scared_.

Sociopathy was a rather new label and had yet real borders. But he was aware what the mayor points where and Neah and Mana filled most of them. He did so not want to be here.

"We're starting to doubt it." Neah informed softly causing Allen to startle slightly. Right, that was the answer to his question.

"Well, maybe you should contact a doctor-" Mana snarled furiously causing Allen to immediately shut up.

"Doctors are horrible." Mana muttered darkly causing Allen to look up in alarm. According to research, sociopaths feared being diagnosed as anything unusual. Unless it was flattering that is but that besides the point.

Neah didn't say anything, he merely watched his twin with a air of wariness. And if Neah _warily_ watched his twin then it sure as hell didn't bode well for Allen.

Mana suddenly shook of the snarl from his features and adopted he same shining smile he had before.

"You're insane." Allen said somewhat faintly, immediately regretting every life decision he'd ever done.

Mana seemed to shrink at that.

"It could be worse." He muttered, sniffing slightly.

"I'm sorry." Allen blurted out.

"What for?"

"It… Wasn't nice of me to say that." Allen tried.

Mana chuckled hollowly. "When is the world ever nice?" Allen felt something in his chest restrict at that. It hadn't been too long since he himself said that.

"Hug?" He offered after a while, when it got obvious that Mana wasn't going to shake out from whatever mood he gotten into.

Mana perked up as he stared at him with shining eyes.

"Are you offering?"

"…Maybe?"

Neah chuckled slightly.

Allen was just about to fire of a retort to the mocking laugh but quickly found himself pressed against Mana's shoulder. Mana's arms wrapped around him in a constricting move, an easy way to state that Allen wasn't allowed to leave. He almost regretted offering.

"You're so cuddly." Mana squealed happily as he almost pressed the stuffing out of Allen. "Neah isn't as cuddly." He continued with a pout, lazily hanging on Allen.

"Oi." Neah merely muttered as he stepped closer until he could rest his head on top of Allen's shoulder.

"You're both heavy." Allen grumbled as he shifted slightly.

"You offered." Neah merely hummed in answer, teasingly bumping his head against Allen's.

"I did." He acknowledged, a note of sorrow etched into it. Mana merely cooed in response, causing the 11 year old to sound less than sane.

Neah eventually stepped away from their group hug, he then gently pried away Mana's form from Allen's smaller build.

"As nice as it is to spend the rest of the evening cuddling with you, I really think that we should go to our room before someone walks in on us." Neah said calmly.

Allen quirked an eyebrow at the comment but refrained from openly disagreeing. Neah did have a point, he doubted that eventual maids would appreciate stumbling across the twin lords hugging with a random stranger.

"Fine." He said, officially giving his consent, it wasn't like it mattered at this point anyway. Mana and Neah wouldn't just give up after one night of intense stalking. Sociopaths were prideful ones after all, well at least according to the recent documentation and he if anyone knew exactly how incorrect _those_ could be.

Mana smiled brightly as he linked an arm with Allen's before starting to skip down the corridor.

They had been pretty close to the twins room the whole time. At least when it came to walking distance.

Allen had first thought that the terror twins had been pulling his leg when he was showed a narrow _old_ door. After a closer inspection however, the door had turned out to lead to a narrow staircase that went upwards. All the way into the twins wardrobe that is.

Neah had explained that there was plenty of shortcuts through the entire manor, some leading to abandoned rooms while others lead to well used rooms. They had in fact used a shortcut when walking to the dining room Mana had informed, disgruntled that Allen hadn't gone with them then.

Their room was big, big and airy.

Allen was instantly in love.

The room itself wasn't filled with stuff, it was in fact pretty empty save the large bed pushed against the wall in the middle of the room. There was a door leading to a smaller balcony, a balcony that was filled to the brim with different kinds of flowers planted in pots.

The rest of the room was pretty vacant save a big corner closet placed in the very corner as well as a low floor table put to the side, three pillows laying abandoned on the floor in a imitation of chairs.

"Do you like it?" Mana asked curiously as Allen curiously glanced at the table.

Allen smiled softly. "Yes, it's very pretty."

Neah grinned at the compliment, a guarded look that had been present the entire evening finally disappearing.

"Most people usually just say that it looks empty." He informed.

"Well most people are idiots." Allen said curtly, feeling a flash of annoyance at the thought of anyone dissing the homely room.

Neah laughed, not chuckled, not _giggled_ , but laughed. Allen startled slightly at the bell like tone and the neutrality of it.

Mana, happy that Neah actually laughed without his usual guarded personality, smiled brightly.

"So…" Allen said unsurely. "Does this makes us friends?" He questioned warily tensing slightly. He didn't really want friends, but if Mana and Neah really wanted it then he'd do it. Probably.

Mana curiously tilted his head to the side.

"No, we're more than friends!" He informed brightly ignoring the choking sound his brother released.

Allen blinked. Once, twice. "What."

"Friends are easy to glide apart from, and we're never letting you go so friendship isn't _enough_." Mana stressed, frowning in irritation at the thought of Allen getting separated from them. His fingers twitched in a curling motion at the thought what he'd do to whomever tried to separate them.

"Not… Necessarily." Allen said.

"Friendship isn't _enough_." Mana repeated.

"Okay." Allen said soothingly, relaxing as he saw Mana loose some tenseness at the soothing voice. "Okay."

"Mana. Don't be greedy now." Neah chided slightly even though it was obvious that his twin was deaf to his reprimand. Honestly, it was so like Mana to ignore whatever he found to be a inconvenience.

"I'll adopt Allen." Mana suddenly spoke up.

"No." Allen immediately shoot down. Not in the least interested in getting adopted by anyone, he didn't even question how a 11 year old could possible gain custody at all but simply decided that it would all be smoother should he simply shoot it down from the very beginning. Before the idea breed that is.

Mana pouted.

"I'm tired." Neah spoke up. Attracting the other people's attention.

"Ah, I should go-"

" _No_." Mana hissed causing Allen to stop his slow retreat towards the door.

"Um." Was Allen's intellectual response. "I really have to though, I need to find my uncle and see if he's okay." A twinge of discomfort churned in his belly. He had been to caught up in whatever their _thing_ was that he'd completely forgotten about his unfortunate uncle.

"No." Neah said

"Can you two just cooperate for once?" Allen said exasperated.

The twins shared a look before looking at him in synch.

" _No._ " They said at the same time causing Allen to almost scream in frustration.

"You two are terrors. Terror twins." He said accusingly while the twins shared a pleased look.

"Does this mean that you'll stay?" Mana asked eagerly.

"Would I be able to get out of this room if I say no?" The dark look was a clear no, he sighed. "Didn't you say that you were tired? Why would I have to stay if that was the case?"

"Why, you'll sleep with us of course." Mana said as if Allen was being unnecessarily stupid.

Allen simply narrowed his eyes. Willing the twins to simply smile and say 'just kidding'. No such luck.

"I'm pretty sure that I've already been assigned a guest room." Allen said slowly. "Not to mention that I still haven't spoken with my uncle yet."

"Oh don't worry about that, Mother had probably already informed your uncle that you're to stay with us for the night."

"What."

"You say that word a lot." Mana commented.

Allen simply gave up after that.

"But I don't even have my nightwear here-" The door opened and a maid stood smiling outside, holding what looked like a pair of sky blue trousers and a equally blue nightshirt. Allen simply stared and didn't react other than mumble a 'thank you' as the maid handed the clothes over before leaving entirely.

He continued to stare at his nightwear for a good couple of minutes before simply looking up at Mana and Neah who smilingly stood in front of their bed already changed.

Allen was past the point of questioning. It didn't _matter_ that there was no possible way that they could have changed clothes during his brief crisis. It didn't _matter_ that someone had just walked into the room and handed over his nightwear without any fuss. None of it mattered because the moment Allen got back home he'd forget everything and act as if it was all a very weird dream.

"Aren't you going to change, Allen?" Mana questioned innocently. Allen couldn't help but silently cry inwardly at the smile. How was this even his life?

"… Where can I change?"

* * *

…18 sheep. 19 sheep. 20 sheep. 21 sheep…

This wasn't working.

Apparently, counting sheep did not work when one was functioning as an overgrown teddy bear.

How did he end up this situation?

"Why am _I_ in the middle?" he mumbled.

"Because I don't want to be hugged." Mana said simply, clutching Allen closer.

"Mana's like a koala…" Neah muttered.

"That doesn't answer why _I'm_ in the middle!"

No answer. Go figure. He exhaled slowly, begging for more patience.

He turned his head to the left with the intention to verbally chew out Mana but kept silent as he took in the sleeping face. A quick glance to his right only confirmed his suspicion.

The twins had managed to fall asleep instantly. He sighed. He wasn't complaining, not really at least. This should make it easier for him to escape the death trap that was the twin's cuddles.

Quietly and slowly, he began to disentangle himself out from the various arms that were attempting to restrain him. It wasn't hard, just a job for the most patience ones.

Eventually, Allen managed to sneak out from the bed. He felt a bit bad for leaving the twins alone when he had more or less promised to stay. Well, as his uncle usually said, desperate situations calls for desperate measures.

Allen slowly tipp-toed towards the door, only stopping once at the sound of bodies shifting slightly. Luckily, neither had awoken and simply slept on. Or so he thought.

"Where are you going?" Neah asked calmly just as Allen reached out for the door knob.

Allen startled, accidentally managing to loudly crash his head against the door. He stood completely still, maybe they wouldn't notice if he just stood still…

"Allen?" Mana mumbled sleepily. No doubt woken by the sound.

He remained still however, hand still reaching for the knob. Purple eyes narrowed as their owner considered whether it'd be worth it to simply throw up the door and make a run for it.

The slightly larger hand that gently curled itself around his outstretched hand decided it for him.

He grumbled slightly as Neah more or less forced him back towards the bed.

"I'm a light sleeper." he murmured in explanation at Allen's slightly begrudging glance.

"No kidding." Allen muttered even as Mana pulled him into his arms, clutching him closely.

"Allen." The insane teen cooed softly. "You weren't trying to escape were you?" He asked dangerously lowly causing Allen to freeze slightly.

"Err…" Allen started uncertainly, peeking up at Mana through his red bangs. Mana did not look happy.

Mana's cold glare suddenly turned into a way too wide smile.

"Well, if that's the case then we'll have to punish you, right Neah?" He said happily.

"What? No!" Allen protested loudly, not in the least keen on experiencing one of the insane twin's 'punishment'.

"Yup." Mana said, popping the p. "You're not allowed to leave." He reminded.

"Fucking hell!" Allen swore, "Give me one goddamn reason to stay then!"

"A reason to stay?" Mana questioned curiously as Neah gently started to guide the twin back under the duvets. "You're ours, isn't that enough?"

"'You're ours-' Well you bloody bastard, I don't have a single memory of ever promising myself to you!" Allen spat, bristling in anger.

"You don't have a choice." Mana said, with the note of a whiny child.

"Mana." Neah suddenly interrupted. "You're tired, maybe you should rest." He suggested.

"But, Allen-" "I'll take care of that. Just sleep for now." Neah gently instructed.

" _I'm_ the oldest." Mana muttered angrily but did follow his twin's instruction, putting his head on the middle pillow while pulling the duvets closer. Yet the anger continued to practically seep out from the angry lump on the bed.

Allen sighed as he gently threaded his fingers through Mana's hair.

"Would it make you feel better if I promised to stay for the night?" He asked softly.

It took awhile to get a response from Mana, but eventually the lump nodded once before demonstratively turning his head the other way.

Neah and Allen sat quiet on the bed, waiting for Mana to fall asleep.

After a good 20 minutes of Neah's melodic humming and Allen's gentle finger's brushing through dark hair, Mana finally fell asleep. Completely this time.

They sat in silence for awhile, the air filled with nothing but Mana's soft breathing.

Neah wordlessly grabbed ahold of Allen ignoring the protesting squeak that followed. He lifted the redhead clean off the ground, easily carrying him out through the room like a sack of potatoes. Well outside the room with the door shut behind them Neah gently lowered Allen down to the floor.

"It wouldn't be wise to leave us you know." Neah spoke up as he glided against the wall into a sitting position on the floor.

Allen blinked.

"Why? I don't get it. Almost every child here would _die_ for an opportunity like this. Why take the only unwilling one?"

"You're asking why we picked a diamond among a box of coal?" Neah asked curiously, a tired look that did not belong in a 11 year old child's eyes evident in his yellow ones.

"Isn't that taking it too far?" Allen muttered, slightly embarrassed by the backhanded compliment.

"No. I don't know how you're doing it but you're _pulling_ us to you and it's driving us _mad_." Neah stressed, as he dragged a hand through his unruly hair that was even more unruly thanks to the fleeting moment of rest.

Neah suddenly let out a dark chuckle, laced with anger and resentment.

"And the worst thing is that you're oblivious to it! You're just unbothered by it all, evading us like you don't _want_ to be with us! It makes us angry." Neah hissed enraged.

Allen merely stared at Neah. Neither had expressed such anger at the entire situation until now.

"Your mother set us up." He blurted out and immediately regretted it as yellow eyes refocused on him.

"What." Was the blank reply.

"Your mother, she planned it all somehow. I first thought that you were part of some silly prank or something but this is going too far, you're either great actors or serious."

"… And which option are you leaning towards now?" Neah asked softly.

"I think you're serious. Katerina spoke to me like she knew that this all would happen, although she seemed slightly perplexed sometimes. But you two, you were too distressed by my presence, I don't think you're acting." Allen admitted.

"Huh." Neah simply said.

"Yeah…"

"…"

"Soo… What happens now?" Allen said, cringing internally, not for the first time during the evening.

"Now, I'm going to deliver you back to Mana before searching out mother."

"What, why?"

"I take it that you were worried about your uncle," Neah simply said while eyeing Allen. "Mother probably knows exactly how his current state is but we can't risk him preventing you from returning. I'd rather not handle a psychotic Mana in the middle of the night, not too mention…" He trailed off, eyes dimming slightly. "Not to mention that it feels really uncomfortable when we don't really know where you are."

Allen inhaled. He was the cause for this, he suddenly realized. He was the cause, but _how_? What had he done?

"I'm sorry." He said with heartbreakingly honesty.

Neah gave him a startled look, clearly questioning his sanity at this point.

"Why?"

"I'm responsible." Allen said as he sunk down to the floor beside Neah. "I don't know how or why, but somehow, this is all my fault."

"Stop being so negative." Neah chided, "See it from the bright side, this is the first time I've actually talked to someone else than Mother and Mana."

"You must have talked to someone else, I mean, it's only proper to greet guests and such." Allen tried as he thoughtfully pulled on his red bangs.

"How very polite." Neah remarked with snark before silencing again. "But no, I don't usually talk to other people outside my family. Most find me disturbing." Neah admitted easily enough, obviously not mournful over it.

"Why is that?" Allen questioned curiously, he had seen how they interacted during the party and every smile, every compliment had been delivered just right and made the twins appear angelic.

"I don't like humans, but Mana _hates_ them. He can get fuzzy if he's forced to interact with people too much."

"That doesn't really answer the question."

"Well aren't we curious?" Neah snarled causing Allen to quiet down. The sound of a door opening startled the two of them but neither were surprised when a disgruntled Mana came through.

"You've been gone for too long now." He muttered sleepily as he sank down next to Allen, tiredly rating his head against Allen's shoulder. He breathed slowly, and hadn't it been for the yellow half lidded eyes peering into the darkness he'd think that Mana had fallen asleep again.

A soft bump from his right side signaled that Neah had also copied the action. Leaving Allen alone with two silent twins using him as a head rester. Not that it was uncomfortable, the opposite in fact.

"I'm seriously startling to contemplate wether you just want me as a head rest or as the shared teddy bear." Allen muttered causing Neah to smile and Mana to chuckle slightly.

"Why can't we have both?" Mana asked softly while Neah merely hummed in agreement.

"You were supposed to say, 'Oh no Allen, your ever present sarcasm is exactly what we need in this trio!'" Allen said, heightening his pitch until it was unrecognizable. He smiled, way too satisfied as something smacked into the top of his head.

"We do not sound like that." Neah and Mana said at the same time, equally mortified by the bad impression.

"Really?" Allen asked with mock surprise before shrieking loudly as something sharply poked him in the side.

Complete silence.

"Oho?" Neah said, a positively demonic smile dominating his face.

"Allen~ Don't tell us that you're ticklish~" Mana cooed, an equally demonic look on his face.

Allen paled. Crap.

"No?" He tried, desperately wiggling in an attempt to break free from the hold.

"No? Then you don't mind if we do _this!_ "

* * *

Allen was dead. He was dead and patiently awaited a proper burial.

At least he hoped that he would get a proper burial. Maybe, if Mana and Neah was that sick, they might decide to keep his body hidden in their closet.

Ugh. Bad mental picture.

"I'm dead." He said loudly, causing the body next to him to snort.

"Really?"

"Really. I want a proper burial with lilies." He said bossily while the other body on his other side giggled.

"We wouldn't really allow you to die." Mana mumbled sleepily, burrowing his nose into Allen's neck.

"Lucky me." Allen deadpanned before quieting.

He looked around in the room, watching as the pale moonlight streamed in from the window and through the thin white curtain. Shadows danced in the corners and everything suddenly appeared so much bigger.

He didn't feel threatened though. Merely content as he observed the different lights dance in the room from the safety of the twin's bed.

He turned his head to the left and took in the sleeping features that belonged to Neah. Neah was seemingly fast asleep, eyelids fluttering softly as his lips was slightly parted, huffing out puffs of warm air.

Allen smiled softly before he looked to hos other side, not in the least surprised by the fact that Mana's almost identical face had the same expression as his twin.

They looked at peace and that was surprisingly, all that mattered.

He had never felt that longing that Neah had angrily described during their talk out in the hallway, but he did feel slightly less happy about the thought that head leave in the morning. He didn't know how they managed to do it during on evening but he felt strangely protective over the pair.

It scared him, because he knew inwardly that he would do anything for those dear to him.

He had gotten close to one girl before, and for that very girl, he had jumped down in a river in the middle of the winter, only to save her necklace. Their budding friendship had been hastily put to an end thought, when she moved to the city.

They still exchanged brief letters now and then, keeping contact, but whatever closeness he had with Maria was nowhere near whatever kinship he held managed to get with Neah and Mana.

They were going to be part of something big, be it good or bad, and he would unconditionally be pulled into the very eye of the storm.

He would probably go willing. If only for Mana and Neah's sake.

But whatever mess that was slowly creeping up on them was long into the future, no reason to ponder on it now when he still was testing the waters.

Neah mumbled something unintelligently as he pulled Allen closer, tucking the redhead close to his chest.

Allen smiled softly and the protective fire that had laid dormant through large parts of his life suddenly roared to life.

He'd protect them, that he was certain of.

Allen would fight for their happiness, he'd _die_ for their safety.

Eyelashes fluttered close over purple eyes as their owner made up his mind, a new resolve burning in his chest. A resolve that would last for over 50 years, budding it's time until those purple eyes once again sparkled with recognition and the twins once again meet with their clashing heat.

Somewhere in the manor, a young lady smiled mystified as she lovingly stroke the frame of a picture frame.

 **-End of Sidestory-**

I can't believe that I actually finished it! ;A; Any grammar and spelling mistakes are my own, my Beta was busy. ;A; Honestly, they deserve a vacation for all the shit I pull them through. _

But did you guys like it? :D I imagine that the Past!Allen was a sarcastic piece of shit and Neah and Mana emotionally stunted creepy twins. Luckily, prolonged time spent with Allen kinda made them melt their icy facade. Allen also learned to relax, thank goodness. :3

I will forever consider Neah and Mana smol beans and Allen a chilly cinnamon roll.


End file.
